Here I Am Again

 Here I am  again, thinking it wasn't that long ago that I posted only to see it's been a hot minute.

 I was just going to take a quick look while I finish my coffee but decided I would go ahead and post while I'm here. To save time (precious commodity these days) I'm not taking the time to rearrange the photos so they are out of order.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a nice week full of family time.

This is the ornament I stitched for the ornament exchange at our stitch group. 

It's a motif from a bigger piece that the name slips my mind at the momen,t but it is by With Thy Needle and Thread. I plan to stitch the whole piece for myself eventually.

Baby girl all ready for Church Sunday.

Part of me says she needs to loose that binky, but then her daddy had one until he was almost three (minus the stuffie) - and once she looses it she will really look more like a little girl than a baby.

Sweet daddy daughter moment.

Her first pony tail. She was so engrossed in my phone she didn't even realize her mama did it. 

(she's watching 'her shows' on you tube). She loves the Super Simple Songs, which is fine. She is learning from them and can count to twelve already, but she throws a fit when you take the phone away from her so I tried to keep it out of sight as much as I could while they were here. Limited how many photos I took but I have a few.

Looks like she was praying - she was actually not happy that we wouldn't let her stick her fingers in the cake until we finished singing happy birthday. 

Tyler was outside playing his guitar - I have never seen River sit that still for that long.

Jason working on his 'favorite uncle' status.

Baby girl's birthday cake.

Where have these last two years gone?

Love this little girl more than I can ever say.

I'll try to be back with holiday decor pics soon. I just started decorating trees yesterday - I have never been this late starting Christmas decorating). I used to be finished with both decorating and shopping by now. I feel like such a slacker.

Just in case I don't get back before the 25th, happy holidays to all!

Mistakes Were Made

Yikes!  I didn't realize how long it has been since I posted!

 
Made myself a few new project bags. They are far from perfect but they are finished an we will call them good enough!

Little River Man turned three last week! How is that possible?

Baby girl is almost two!

Time really does go by faster the older you get and I for one am not a fan!

Have a Happy Halloween!

One Year Later

 

It's been one whole year.

Time flies and yet stands still.

Still there?

 I'm really not very good at this blogging thing anymore.

I took a little trip with my brother and sister. 

My sister is a travel nurse and was finishing up a stint in Maine so my brother and I flew and road-tripped back to Texas with her. Between July 9 and July 19 we traveled from Texas to Boston, New Hampshire, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and back to Texas!

There is no way I can cover everything in this post so I will just hit a few highlights.

Jason and Rachael drove up from NYC to spend a couple of days visiting before we left Maine.

It is very scenic up there!

There is supposedly a lighthouse a mile out there - I didn't think it particularly smart to try walking out there.

Got to see Niagara Falls

This was a lot of fun!

On the first floor, there was a special tribute to 50 years of Music on Saturday Night Live.

And on the 6th floor there was a tribute to 40 years of Bon Jovi! It was like walking into a concert!

Quick pic in Nashville

At JBJ's Nashville. IFYKYK

A castle in the middle of Kentucky!

We stopped in Little Rock for a short visit with daddy's brother, Raymond, before finally making it back to Texas. (no pictures - very short visit)

It was a lot of fun and exhausting at the same time!

I might share some more photos later - there are a lot! LOL

Of course I can't post without a couple of pictures of this sweet baby girl.

Love this sassy little thing!

I know I always say I will not be so long getting back - I always mean it when I say it! Things just seem to get in the way. I will try though!

Hello again!

Later is better than never,  right?

Finally have some finishes to show

 

Birthday Tart by Plum Street Samplers

Stitched on 36ct American Chestnut by R&R with DMC floss and mounted in a tart tin.

I used Chenille trim that I obviously have had for awhile since it said Crescent Colors on the tag. Color is Bamboo. This is the 4th time I have stitched it and this one is mine! I gifted the other three.

Liberty Belles by Little House Needleworks. Stitched on 30ct Lugana with DMC floss. It is sewn onto a premade pillow that I purchased at the same time I purchased the chart.

Cross Stitch Collector by The Primitive Hare 

This was a 2022 Nashville Market Exclusive kit and came with the fabric (30 ct Old Salem by Primitive Hare) I used some of the called for colors but not all of them. It said it had buttons included but if it did I misplaced them so I used two vintage buttons that were gifted from a friend a couple of years ago. It is mounted on the board that came in the kit.

Can't have a post without pictures of baby girl

I can't believe this little sweetie is 19 months old already!

Love this girl with all my heart!

Her Pa is pretty fond of her too.

Lots of wheels turning here at the moment so I don't know when I will get back. Trying to schedule roofers, gutters and drainage people - we have a major drainage issue to address. 

Until next time!

Mother's Day Weekend

We went to see baby girl for Mother's Day weekend.

Her daddy had to work on Saturday so we took her for ice cream.

Then we played with the bubbles

Went on a walk but baby girl didn't make it. 

Good thing her Pa was doing the driving!

Baby girl and her mama. 

I'm so grateful that Cindy doesn't seem to mind us coming and disrupting the flow so often.

She sends pictures (almost) daily.

She's a good mama.

Sunday was parent commitment/baby dedication at church.

Baby girl is in her 'I can do it myself' phase and wanted down.

Our little princess.

She is such a sweetheart

(when she's not sleepy!)

20 minutes later and she was out.

A wonderful way to spend Mother's Day!

It was a good distraction to the fact that it was 8 months since we lost daddy.

1 year ago today we were on our way to Paris.

I'll have some stitching pictures next time. I'm working on the 'finishing' part of a few pieces.



 

Hello Spring!

 Good morning to ya!

It's all out spring here - everything is covered in yellow but should get a good washing soon.

We were under storm watches yesterday but they never really formed here - we had a couple of episodes of heavy rain but they were short. Same forecast for today so we will see. I've been enjoying my azaleas while the blooms are still there. One good storm and they will be toast.

Stitched this freebie from Cathy Habermann

Hands on Design

I ordered the finishing kit because I didn't want to cut the heart shapes.

It comes with very detailed (and photographed) instructions.

I stitched it on 32ct Flax Belfast using the called for DMC floss.

I used Vonna's video to make the cording. 

I should have straightened the bow before I took the pic. 

Of course no post is complete without pics of baby girl.

She's getting so big!

Her uncle Jason got her the backpack when he was on a trip - so cute!

They spent a few days here over spring break so we took both baby girl and Little River Man to the zoo His pawpaw came too - not sure we could handle them both without extra hands! Five adults to two toddlers seems like a pretty good ratio. After the zoo we went out to lunch. They were so tired! (and before anyone gets in a tizzy - she had already finished her ice cream! I've already been called out wanting to know why she didn't have any. LOL)

I did finish another piece the other day but it is for an exchange so I can't post it yet.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

If you are in the path of some of these storms, please stay safe!

A Little Catching Up

Well, I didn't mean to take that long of a break.

The days get away from me so quickly lately.

Today is my Mother's birthday.

It's hard to believe she has been gone almost six years.

I know we are way past Christmas but here are the last of the ornaments I fully finished for this year.

Snow Love

Country Cottage Needleworks

(I hope I have this right)

Got my cording tied just slightly off center.

I still have a few of these printed ornaments to do. I kind of like mixing them in for something different now and then.

I sew a piece of batting to the back before I do the embroidery, then I put a piece of felt on the back and blanket stitch it together.

I don't know when I originally stitched this one but I was never happy with my finish.

It doesn't look that bad in the picture but it was badly stuffed.

Every year when I pull it out I tell myself I need to re finish it and this year I did!

Much better!

Country Cottage Needleworks 

 2007 JXS Ornament Issue

And of course I can't post without a picture or two of baby girl.

She had her first milkshake a few weeks ago.

She loves to play outside! 

She's coming for a visit in a couple of weeks so Pa says we need to get her a slide for here.

Hope to not take so long between posts this time.